Last night was a great evening of watching the Eels play the Bulldogs and just chatting around the fire pit. The opportunity to sit, relax and talk with old friends was what was needed. John cooked a very nice meal for dinner and when we arose this morning, he was busily preparing breakfast. We were treated to a beautiful cooked breakfast and, added to this, we were privileged to have freshly squeezed orange juice from John and Paula’s tree out the back. There’s nothing better than real juice that hasn’t been watered down.
Since it had rained overnight, the morning temperature was up a few degrees from the previous few days. Turning the cranks, we were off again with high hopes as the weather forecast indicated I would be assisted with a strong 30km/h North Westerly tailwind. It didn’t take long to work out that the north and westerly didn’t come to the party together today as it was a straight westerly. Unfortunately, our main projector was in a south westerly direction so it was a hard day riding into the winds. We were recording winds between 35 and 50km/h. One blessing was that the roads through here have been upgraded over recent years and they have used hot-mix so Blackadder rolled superbly.
There were a few hairy moments today with the wind bringing in a whole new dynamic to riding. With the M1 cutting a more direct pathway than the old Pacific Highway, it has seen numerous large expansive bridges installed to carry the traffic. Unfortunately, with the wind blowing so strongly, this resulted in me being blown around like a rag doll on these bridges where there was no protection from the wind. Electing to sit on the white line and leaving the 2.5 metre shoulder as my safety zone was the right decision. On numerous occasions I used nearly all that space after being hit by strong gusts. The bridges are between 50 to 100 feet above the surface of the water and, given I wasn’t wearing a floatation vest and didn’t really like the idea of a swim, it seemed clear that the white line was my friend. Thankfully, other drivers recognised the issue and gave me the lane on every bridge.
I was not the only one receiving a grilling from the wind. Later in the day, as we made our final approach from Karuah to Raymond Terrace, I noticed a caravan passing me without a door. It had clearly been blown off and was now lying somewhere back up the highway. A second van went past and the door was only being held in place by the hook latch and the wind was playing havoc with this one as well.
Despite the wind and the increased climbing today, I arrived in Raymond Terrace at 3:30pm and sought out a shower to try and warm up and refresh the body after fighting with the elements. Grant had gone ahead and secured our accommodation which made it a quick transition from bike to shower.
Tomorrow we have another big day as we head from Raymond Terrace to Hornsby via Newcastle. Our first stop will be at Newcastle University where we are catching up with Darrel Sparke (President of Amputees NSW) and some of the Amp Camp family who are travelling from Sydney and throughout the area to meet us. We are planning to arrive at the University at 7.45am. Again, there is a predicted north westerly wind for tomorrow, but we will just have to wait and see.
Please donate to Amputees NSW via the following address, http://ozcrowd.com/campaign/3959 or through visiting their website http://www.amputeesnsw.org.au/
Until tomorrow,
Mike and Grant